Beijing Displays Uneven Policies
In Wahaha Milk-Beverage Case

BEIJING -- "The consumer is god" is the motto of China's newest consumer-protection drive -- but not, apparently, if the reputation of a top home-grown name brand is at stake.

After three children died recently, allegedly from drinking contaminated Wahaha, a popular fruit-flavored milk beverage, Beijing didn't publicize the case to warn consumers but ordered that it be hushed up. A Beijing newspaper was reprimanded for publishing a front-page article on the deaths, and further media coverage was blocked, according...